Caged
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: Alone and injured, Eleanor Branstone finds an unlikely friend in the ancient school healer. AU in which Ariana didn't die. one shot.


**Author's Note:** Written for…

Musical Chairs – Revolving Prompts. _Prompt:_ a rabbit

10 Characters, 10 Prompts Challenge. _Prompts:_ Eleanor Branstone, zoo

Back From the Dead Challenge. _Prompt:_ Ariana Dumbledore

Open Category Competition 2. _Category:_ Trio Era

**Caged**

Things never went Eleanor's way.

She was always too young, too clumsy, and too stupid.

She could have just stayed at home and pretended to be normal like her brothers and sister, but _nooo_, her parents wanted her to learn magic. She had a 'talent,' they'd said.

"A talent for screwing up, maybe," she muttered, cradling her injured arm as she waited for the school healer.

"What was that, Miss Branstonee?" Of course the healer overheard her. Old Madam Collins had a reputation among the students for being as quiet as a cat, and twice as curious. Still, she was well beloved and most of the younger kids had taken to calling her Granny Ariana.

"Oh, nothing, Ma'am," Eleanor told her, poking at a spot on her arm that was already starting to bruise.

"My goodness, what happened to your arm?" Collins started examining it as Eleanor spoke.

"I tripped on the stairs. I think it might be sprained. It's happened before."

"You've fallen down the stairs before?" the old woman asked with some surprise.

"Oh, no. When I was seven my brothers dared me to climb a tree. I fell out of it and sprained my arm."

"You're lucky that's all you hurt."

"Well, I broke my leg, too," the girl added as an afterthought. Collins chuckled, crossing the room to the floor-to-ceiling cabinet where she kept pre-made salves and draughts.

"You must be careful with brothers. I have two of my own and they're still daring each other to perform stupid tricks."

She returned to the girl's side with small tub of ointment that smelled heavily of mint and began to rub it gently on the injured arm.

"It's not my brothers that are the problem," Eleanor explained, watching the healer's movements. "I'm just clumsy."

"Oh, really?"

The first-year nodded sadly. "I've always been clumsy. My dad says I didn't walk until I was four because I kept falling over."

"Being clumsy isn't that terrible, honey."

"It is when you're stupid and unlucky too."

"Who says you're stupid?" the healer demanded, outraged.

"Everyone. I'm horrible at most of my classes and everyone knows it. They call me 'Dummy' and say I shouldn't have bothered coming to school."

Collins stopped her work. A thin layer of the ointment covered Eleanor's arm and was already starting to fade.

"Did they do this to you?" she asked quietly.

"It wasn't their fault. I was trying to run away from them and I tripped."

The healer sighed. "Miss Branstonee-"

"Ellie, Ma'am," the girl corrected.

"Very well, Ellie. Please call me Ariana. So few people do these days." She started again. "Ellie, you must tell a professor about this bullying-"

"It's not bullying!" Ellie protested.

"It is, my dear. Believe me, I ought to know."

"You were bullied?" The young Hufflepuff couldn't imagine the sweet old lady in front of her ever being in her position.

Ariana smiled at her surprise. "I was very young – much younger than you. I don't even remember it now, but my memory from before the age of sixteen is still a bit hazy. They were muggle boys and they found out about my magic. They didn't understand what they did to me. I became withdrawn and my magic erratic and uncontrollable. I didn't feel like myself for years."

"What changed? How did you get better?"

"I almost died. It was an accident – I got in the middle of a duel, and I got hit. My brothers had to take me to St. Mungo's to try and save my life, even though it meant I would've been put in a home for my lack of control."

"But … you weren't?" Ellie guessed.

"I was in the hospital for weeks. At one point this little boy wandered into my room with a crup and I took to it right away. I'd always loved goats … my family kept a lot of goats," she added at Ellie's confused look. "It turned out that being around animals was the most effective way to help me relax. The healers let me go home, but I had to make frequent trips back to the hospital for therapy.

"My oldest brother started teaching here when I was sixteen. He was my guardian, so I came along with him. I had to stay in my room while he was teaching, but he'd let me sit with him at the head table, and the house-elves would walk with me in the halls. That was how I met my husband. He was a sixth-year Ravenclaw and his rabbit had gone missing. I helped him find it and he tutored me. Being able to meet people, making friends, it helped me. When I was seventeen, I was officially sorted into Hufflepuff and started being privately tutored by the professors."

"That's it? You were just cured?"

"There was a lot of therapy involved for many more years, but yes. I owe my second chance to my late husband and his rabbit. It fact…" Ariana slipped off the bed and hurried into her office faster than a one hundred and nine-year-old should have been able to move. She returned a moment later, carrying a the fluffiest rabbit Eleanor had ever seen. Ariana took a seat next to the girl on the bed and eased the creature into her lap.

"His name is Samson. Anders and I always kept rabbits. They remind me of him now," she explained, petting the soft fur.

Eleanor smiled, petting him as well. "Have you ever been to a zoo?" she asked quietly.

"I'm sorry?"

"A zoo, where the keep animals? It's a muggle thing, I guess. You might like it."

"Oh, yes. Aberforth – my other brother – he took me to one when we discovered my fondness for animals. I always felt bad for them in there, though. I know what it's liked to be caged up."

Eleanor nodded. She tentatively stretched her arm. "My arm's feeling much better now, Madam Collins. Thank you for your help."

Ariana took the rabbit back and smiled. "It's Ariana, my dear, and before you go you must promise to come to me if the teasing continues."

"I will Mad … Ariana. I promise."

"Very well. In that case, let me know if that arm starts to hurt again. And as for your studies: give it time. It's only been a couple of months, and you're still adjusting to this world."

"Thank you, Ariana. I think I'm going to spend the afternoon in the library and see if I can figure out my Transfiguration homework."

Ariana laughed. "Good luck, my dear. If you need any help, tell me immediately. Old as my brother is, he's still a genius in that department."


End file.
